This is an Open Access document downloaded from ORCA, Cardiff University's institutional repository: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/130469/ This is the author’s version of a work that was submitted to / accepted for publication. Citation for final published version: Bouleghlimat, Emir, Bethell, Donald and Davies, Philip R. 2020. The photocatalytic destruction of cinnamic acid and cinnamyl alcohol: mechanism and the effect of aqueous ions. Chemosphere 251 , 126469. 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126469 file Publishers page: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.12646... <http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2020.126469> Please note: Changes made as a result of publishing processes such as copy-editing, formatting and page numbers may not be reflected in this version. For the definitive version of this publication, please refer to the published source. You are advised to consult the publisher’s version if you wish to cite this paper. This version is being made available in accordance with publisher policies. See http://orca.cf.ac.uk/policies.html for usage policies. Copyright and moral rights for publications made available in ORCA are retained by the copyright holders.
22
Embed
3 The photocatalytic destruction of cinnamic acid and ...
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
This is a n Op e n Acces s doc u m e n t dow nloa d e d fro m ORCA, Ca r diff U nive r si ty 's
ins ti t u tion al r e posi to ry: h t t p s://o rc a.c a r diff.ac.uk/130 4 6 9/
This is t h e a u t ho r’s ve r sion of a wo rk t h a t w as s u b mi t t e d to / a c c e p t e d for
p u blica tion.
Cit a tion for final p u blish e d ve r sion:
Boule g hlim a t , E mir, Be t h ell, Don ald a n d Davie s, P hilip R. 2 0 2 0. The
p ho toc a t alytic d e s t r u c tion of cinn a mic a cid a n d cinn a myl alcohol: m e c h a nis m
a n d t h e effec t of a q u eo u s ions. Ch e mos p h e r e 2 5 1 , 1 2 6 4 6 9.
1 0.1 0 1 6/j.ch e m os p h e r e .20 2 0.12 6 4 6 9 file
P u blish e r s p a g e: h t t p://dx.doi.o rg/10.10 1 6/j.ch e mos p h e r e .2 0 2 0.12 6 4 6...
< h t t p://dx.doi.o rg/10.10 1 6/j.ch e m os p h e r e .2 0 2 0.1 26 4 6 9 >
Ple a s e no t e:
Ch a n g e s m a d e a s a r e s ul t of p u blishing p roc e s s e s s uc h a s copy-e di ting,
for m a t ting a n d p a g e n u m b e r s m ay no t b e r eflec t e d in t his ve r sion. For t h e
d efini tive ve r sion of t his p u blica tion, ple a s e r ef e r to t h e p u blish e d sou rc e. You
a r e a dvise d to cons ul t t h e p u blish e r’s ve r sion if you wish to ci t e t his p a p er.
This ve r sion is b ein g m a d e av ailable in a cco r d a n c e wit h p u blish e r policie s.
S e e
h t t p://o rc a .cf.ac.uk/policies.h t ml for u s a g e policies. Copyrigh t a n d m o r al r i gh t s
for p u blica tions m a d e available in ORCA a r e r e t ain e d by t h e copyrig h t
hold e r s .
Page 1 of 21
1
2
Title: The photocatalytic destruction of cinnamic acid and cinnamyl alcohol: 3
Mechanism and the effect of aqueous ions. 4
Authors: Emir Bouleghlimata 5
Donald Bethellb 6
Corresponding Author Philip R. Daviesa 7
Addresses: 8
aCardiff Catalysis Institute, School of Chemistry, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK 9
Cinnamic acid was chosen as an exemplar molecule to study the effect of potential contaminants on the kinetics 9
and mechanism of the photocatalytic destruction of hydrocarbons in aqueous solutions. We identify the principal 10
intermediates in the photocatalytic reaction of the acid and corresponding alcohol, and propose a mechanism that 11
explains the presence of these species. The impact of two likely contaminants of aqueous systems, sulfate and 12
chloride ions were also studied. Whereas sulfate ions inhibit the degradation reaction at all concentrations, chloride 13
ions, up to a concentration of 0.5 M, accelerate the removal of cinnamic acid from solution by a factor of 1.6. 14
However, although cinnamic acid is removed, the pathway to complete oxidation is blocked by the chloride, with the 15
acid being converted (in the presence of oxygen) into new products including acetophenone, 2-chloroacetophenone, 16
1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethenone and 1,2-dibenzoylethane. We speculate that the formation of these products involves 17
chlorine radicals formed from the reaction of chloride ions with the photoinduced holes at the catalyst surface. 18
Interestingly, we have shown that the 1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethenone and 1,2-dibenzoylethane products form from 2-19
chloroacetophenone when irradiated with 365 nm light in the absence of the catalyst. The formation of potentially 20
dangerous side products in this reaction suggest that the practical implementation of the photocatalytic purification 21
of contaminated water needs to considered very carefully if chlorides are likely to be present. 22
1 Introduction 23
The high oxidation potential of the radicals produced in aqueous systems by photocatalytic activation at 24
semiconductor surfaces is widely recognised as having great potential for the degradation of water borne 25
contaminants. Investigations have been reported in areas ranging from antibacterial applications to removal of 26
effluent from industrial processes. One example is in the removal of the non-toxic but highly polluting effluent from 27
the palm oil, olive oil and fishing industries. The Malaysian Palm Oil board reports that palm oil mill effluent (POME) 28
is 100 times more polluting than domestic sewage due to its high chemical and biological oxygen demand.1 The 29
Page 3 of 21
advantages of highly oxidising chemistry and environmentally friendly processes have led to extensive research in 1
the design and optimisation of systems for the photocatalytic degradation of water borne contaminants. 2
Whilst a great deal of current photocatalytic research is addressing the central issues of utilising light with 3
frequencies in the visible range and of achieving useful catalytic efficiencies, there are other practical problems to 4
solve. In particular, the application of photocatalysis is likely to be in situations where the target contaminants are 5
accompanied by other species. In this paper, we consider how sulfate and chloride ions might affect the efficiency 6
and reaction pathways of the photocatalytic process, using cinnamic acid as a model substrate since it contains 7
several of the functional groups that are present in the contaminants typically present in effluent from the 8
agricultural industry.2,3 Both sulfate and chloride ions can lead to the formation of new radicals in solution. In the 9
case of sulfate for example, SO4• is formed via the radicalisation of HSO4
- by the HO• radicals created at the catalyst 10
surface. 11
HSO4- + HO• ⇌ SO4
-• + H2O 12
SO4• is a strong oxidant and has been shown to have a very different behaviour to that of hydroxyl radicals.4 13
Previous studies of the influence of aqueous sulfates on photo-mineralisation processes have found varying effects, 14
for example, Wiszniowski et al. found the degradation of humic acid to be initially inhibited in the presence of 15
sulfate, but promoted in later steps by the formation and reaction of SO4• in solution.5 Gaya et al.6 studying a 4-16
chlorophenol substrate, also found a small increase in the rate of photodecomposition which they attributed to the 17
reactivity of the sulfate radical. Mendez et al. discussed the differing behaviour between SO4• and HO• in the 18
degradation of dodecyl-benzenesulfonate in the presence of fulvic acid;7 UV/S2O82- degraded the target molecule 19
more quickly than UV/H2O2 due to the more specific reactivity of the sulfate radical, therefore reducing the ability 20
for dissolved organic carbon species to scavenge it. 21
Chloride ions in solution have often been associated with a decrease in photocatalytic oxidation8 because, like 22
sulfates, they act as scavengers for the hydroxyl radicals, Wang et al.9 reported that chloride ions had a greater 23
inhibitive effect on the photocatalytic mineralisation of o-methylbenzoic acid than sulfate ions. However, more 24
complex behaviour has also been observed, Piscopo et al. for example showed10 that, in the photocatalytic 25
decomposition of benzamide and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid over a TiO2 catalyst, benzamide decomposition is strongly 26
inhibited by the presence of chloride concentrations greater than 0.5 M, whereas the benzoic acid is hardly affected 27
at all. Meanwhile Yang et al.11 showed chloride decreasing the rate of removal of methylene blue but actually 28
Page 4 of 21
increasing the rate of removal of 2-naphthol orange. The authors attributed the different effects to the differing 1
extent of adsorption of the two molecules, arguing that the 2-naphthol orange adsorbs more strongly at the TiO2 2
surface and is therefore able to react with chloride radicals formed from the interception of the OH• radicals by the 3
chloride ions. Alternative reaction pathways in the presence of chloride have also been observed, with toxic 4
chlorinated byproducts observed in the case of the decomposition of azo dyes in saline wastewater.12 5
In this paper, we have sought to elucidate the effect of alkali-metal sulfates and chlorides on the photocatalytic 6
decomposition of cinnamic acid in water over TiO2, both in the presence and absence of oxygen. We show how in 7
this system, sulfates act to inhibit the reaction whereas chlorides significantly enhance photooxidation rates and give 8
rise to a number of undesirable products. We explore the role of dissolved oxygen on the reaction mechanism and 9
discuss the photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic alcohol, benzaldehyde and phenylacetaldehyde as key 10
intermediates on the pathway from cinnamic acid to complete oxidation to carbon dioxide and water. 11
2 Materials and methods 12
2.1 Preparation of TiO2 photocatalyst 13
Titanium (IV) oxide (Aeroxide® P25, Sigma Aldrich), which is a crystalline powder with particles approximately 21 14
nm in diameter, composed of ~70% anatase and ~25% rutile and minor amounts of an amorphous phase,13 was 15
used as the photocatalyst. However, the fine particle size was too small to efficiently filter out and suspended fine 16
particles interfered significantly with UV measurements. Atomic emission spectra (AES) showed that complete 17
removal of titania from the reacting solution was very cumbersome, since the suspended TiO2 particles could 18
potentially damage the column in the gas chromatography- mass spectrometer system (GC-MS), the P25 was mixed 19
with deionised water up to its incipient wetness point (~1.5 mL per 2 g of powder), and ground into a paste. The 20
paste was dried at 200°C for 2 hours, calcined at 400°C for 3 hours and filtered through a 53 μm sieve. This resulted 21
in a TiO2 catalyst with excellent photocatalytic properties but particles large enough to be completely filtered out of 22
the reaction. 23
2.2 Reactor vessel 24
All experiments were conducted using the UV-LED based photocatalytic test reactor14,15 developed as part of the 25
EU funded PCATDES project that provides a calibrated adjustable light source and pre-defined test conditions to 26
remove as many sources of uncertainty in photocatalytic analysis as possible and thereby improve data reliability. 27
The test reactor provides a selectable intensity of up to 1.9 kW m−2. The reactor vessel has a 250 mL capacity and is 28
equipped with flowing water cooling. The glass reactor is covered by a purpose-built black plastic covering with 29
Page 5 of 21
openings designed for several uses including sample taking, temperature control and gas flow. The LEDs are fitted to 1
the top of the black covering providing top down irradiation unhindered by the PCATDES glassware. The reactor sits 2
on top of a magnetic stirrer plate. The total reaction volume was 250 ml , with an initial cinnamic acid concentration 3
of 50 mg L-1 at an initial pH of 5. The reaction was carried out in air except those cases where nitrogen sparging is 4
stated. 1 mL liquid aliquots are taken with glass pipettes and filtered into sample vials from which they are added to 5
GC-MS sample vials or diluted for UV absorption measurements. Before every experiment the photocatalyst is 6
allowed to equilibrate in the reaction solution for 30 minutes without light to ensure adsorption of reactants onto 7
the relatively high surface area catalyst is complete before reaction. Longer periods of equilibration were 8
investigated but had no material effect on the reaction. 9
2.3 Sample analysis 10
Cinnamic acid concentrations were determined from the molecule’s strong absorption at 272 nm and monitored 11
using a Lambda XLS table top UV/Vis spectrophotometer. The error in sample measurement, estimated by repeated 12
measurements, was ~3 μg ml-1. A GCT premier gas chromatograph with an orthogonal acceleration -TOF (time of 13
flight) mass spectrometer was used to determine the concentration of all other species in solution. The carrier gas 14
was argon at a flow rate of 1 mL min-1 and a run time of 40 minutes. The system was fitted with an Agilent auto-15
sampler and a 30 cm DB-35, (35% phenyl)-methylpolysiloxane, column. An injection volume of 10 μL was used for all 16
samples except the calibration solutions where 1 μL was injected. Sample to sample error was approximately ±0.3 17
μg. From our results it is clear that a significant proportion of the different reactants tested were completely 18
mineralised to CO2 via intermediates that were either too short lived or at too low concentration for us to detect. 19
CO2 evolution was measured by sampling the gas in the headspace above the reaction and analysing the composition 20
with a GC with a thermal conductivity detector (TCD). The system was calibrated with high purity CO2 (99.9% purity, 21
BOC gasses) injected in known volumes of 0.05 mL to 0.25 mL. 22
XP spectra were recorded from the dried powders using a Kratos Axis Ultra-DLD photoelectron spectrometer with 23
a monochromatic Al K x-ray source and the “hybrid spectroscopy” mode at a pass-energy of 40 eV. The data was 24
analysed using CasaXPS16 with binding energies referenced to the 𝑇𝑖 (2𝑝3 2⁄ ) peak of TiO2 at 458.5 eV with an 25
uncertainty of ~0.2 eV. Curve fits were made using Gaussian-Lorentzian (GL (30)) line-shapes. 26
Page 6 of 21
2.4 Control reactions 1
In the absence of a catalyst the rate of cinnamic acid degradation under the light source and in the presence of 2
oxygen was less than 1.3 ×10-4 s-1. A no light control showed no CO2 released in the absence of irradiation whereas, 3
on irradiation in the presence of the mP25 photocatalyst, the degradation of the acid releases CO2 at a rate of 1.29 4
μMol-1 s-1. After 3 hours, 100% of the expected total organic carbon was released as CO2. Under deoxygenated 5
conditions however, the rate of CO2 evolution was 9.8×10-2 μM-1 s-1 and resulted in just 8.6% of the total CO2 being 6
released after three hours of reaction. 7
3 Results 8
3.1 Rates of decomposition and the effect of oxygen. 9
On exposure to the 365 nm light source in the presence of the mP25 catalyst, a 72% decrease in cinnamic acid 10
concentration was observed in the first 15 minutes. The initial rate of the reaction can be plotted using first order 11
rate kinetics to give a rate constant of 1.5 ± 0.2×10-3 s-1, Figure 1. A GC chromatogram recorded 20 minutes after the 12
start of the irradiation is shown in Figure S1. The species at 11.09 minutes provided a mass spectrum with 13
fragmentation peaks at m/z of 106.04 and 77.04 and can be attributed to the fragments [C6H5CHO] and [C6H5]+ 14
identifying the molecule as benzaldehyde (2). A benzaldehyde calibration standard provided a matching mass 15
spectrum and eluted at the same retention time confirming this assignment. The rate of benzaldehyde formation 16
from cinnamic acid was measured to be very approximately 1×10-3 s-1, only slightly less than the rate of cinnamic acid 17
degradation and since the benzaldehyde is simultaneously degrading this is probably an underestimate. A weaker 18
peak at an elution time of ~13.18 minutes provided a mass spectrum characterised by signals at m/z’s of 120.06 and 19
91.06 and can be attributed to the fragments [C6H5CH2CHO] and [C6H5CH2]+ respectively arising from 20
phenylacetaldehyde (3). This assignment was also confirmed with a calibration standard. 21
The photocatalytic decomposition of standard samples of phenylacetaldehyde and benzaldehyde (50 mg L-1) were 22
also examined to investigate the decomposition mechanism in more detail. Phenylacetaldehyde degraded at a first 23
order rate of approximately 1.8×10-3 s-1, however no further decomposition products were detected during its 24
decomposition, suggesting that the products remained adsorbed on the catalyst or were reacted away to gaseous 25
products (CO2 & H2O) too quickly to be detected in this experiment. Benzaldehyde decomposition occurs at a rate of 26
approximately 0.8 x 10-3 s-1 with several minor products detected. These minor products were also intermittently 27
identified in the degradation of cinnamic acid but because of their low concentration and rapid decomposition, were 28
not observed consistently. The most significant peaks eluted at 13.0, 18.4 and 19.4 minutes with all three producing 29
Page 7 of 21
similar mass spectra. The most probable parent mass peak was at an m/z of 122 which corresponds with 1
hydroxybenzaldehyde [C6H4(OH)CHO]. Calibration samples for 2-hydroxybenzaldhyde and 3-hydroxybenzaldehyde 2
eluted at 12.9 and 18.4 minutes giving the matching mass spectra. We conclude that the molecule eluting at 19.4 3
minutes is 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde. As direct derivatives of 2, the 2-,3- and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde intermediates 4
will be referred to as 2a, 2b and 2c respectively. The other significant peak in the mass spectrum was at an m/z of 93 5
and correlates with a fragment of hydroxybenzaldehyde minus the aldehyde group [C6H4(OH)]+. 6
7
Figure 1: Concentration of cinnamic acid and its major decomposition products during photocatalytic destruction over a TiO2 8 catalyst. (a) Under ambient conditions (in air at 19±1 oC ); (b) In the absence of oxygen after thorough degassing with N2 before 9
and during the experiment. Dashed curves are drawn to guide the eye. Inset charts expand sections of the main charts. 10
Cinnamyl alcohol was tested as a substrate to examine how a change of the carboxyl group to an alcohol 11
functionality would affect the degradation by mP25; studies of palladium promoted TiO2 suggest that the alcohols 12
are much more reactive than the acids.17 In the present experiments, cinnamyl alcohol was seen to elute at 18.2 13
minutes and identified in the mass spectrum from its parent m/z of 134. Other fragments were detected at m/z of 14
117, 105, 91 and 77, which can be assigned as [C9H11], [C8H9]+, [C6H5CH2]+ and [C6H5]+ respectively. The rate of alcohol 15
degradation was measured to be 2.1±1.12×10-4 s-1, (Figure S2) significantly slower than the rate of decomposition of 16
the carboxylic acid. The major decomposition product appeared as the second largest peak in the chromatogram, 17
with a retention time of 17.86 minutes overlapping with the alcohol parent complex. The mass spectrum indicated a 18
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
2000 6000 10000
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
0
20
40
60
80
0 1500 3000 4500 6000 7500
0
1
2
3
4
Cinnamic acid
Benzaldehyde
Phenylacetaldehyde
Co
nce
ntr
atio
n /mg
/ml
Time (Seconds)
b. Degassed
Co
nce
ntr
atio
n /mg
/ml
Time /Seconds
Cinnamic acid
Benzaldehyde
Phenylacetaldehyde
Co
nce
ntr
atio
n /mg
/ml
Time (Seconds)
a. Standard conditions
Co
nce
ntr
atio
n /mg
/ml
Time (Seconds)
Page 8 of 21
parent mass peak at an m/z of 132 which can be attributed to cinnamaldehyde [C9H8O] and this is supported by 1
signals at m/z’s of 103, 93 and 77 corresponding to the fragmentation products of [C6H5C2H2]+, [C6H5C1H2]+ and 2
[C6H5]+. The concentration of cinnamaldehyde increased rapidly from the start of the reaction until ~20 minutes of 3
illumination after which it declined at a rate similar to the rate of decomposition of the cinnamyl alcohol. By 180 4
minutes both the alcohol and the aldehyde were present only in trace amounts whilst benzaldehyde became the 5
most prevalent intermediate. 6
3.2 The role of dissolved oxygen. 7
Gas phase and dissolved oxygen were eliminated from the system by purging continuously with 1 bar N2. In all the 8
reactions studied, the effect of removing oxygen was a dramatic decrease in reaction rate, the degradation of 9
cinnamic acid for example was reduced by a factor of ~6 to a first order rate constant of 2.5±0.2×10-4 s-1, Figure 1 b. 10
There is an accompanying change in the nature of the products of the decomposition of the acid. Benzaldehyde is 11
the main intermediate in the presence of oxygen. It was detected only as a trace component in the oxygen free 12
conditions whilst phenylacetaldehyde is formed, albeit in low yield, throughout the reaction in the absence of 13
oxygen; it does not seem to decompose any further, increasing in concentration steadily throughout the 3 hours 14
irradiation tested here, Figure 1b (inset). This is also reflected in the low levels of CO2(g) described later (Figure 4). In 15
the case of cinnamyl alcohol, the absence of oxygen has a similar effect, decreasing the decomposition rate to 16
1.8×10-5 s-1, the cinnamaldehyde product observed in the presence of oxygen was still detected in its absence but at 17
concentrations close to the limit of detectability. 18
3.3 Effect of sulfate poisoning. 19
Both potassium and sodium sulfates inhibit the rate of photocatalytic decomposition. We investigated the effects 20
of 0.05 M, 0.1 M and 0.5 M of both salts and found an almost identical 5 fold decrease in the rate of cinnamic acid 21
degradation in each case to ca. 2.9 x 10-4 s-1. Illustrated in Figure 2, for the case of a K2SO4 concentration of 0.1 M. 22
Removal of oxygen by purging with nitrogen reduced the rate of decomposition further to 0.94×10-5 s-1 which is 23
similar to that at which the cinnamic acid degrades under the light source in the absence of a catalyst. (1.33×10-4 s-1). 24
Page 9 of 21
1 Figure 2: The effect of sulfates concentration on the rates of photocatalytic degradation of cinnamic acid. (a) Plots of the 2
concentration of cinnamic acid against time under different conditions. (b) First order rate constants plotted as a function of 3 potassium and sodium sulfate concentration. The rate for the degassed solution in the presence of 0.1 M sulfate are also shown. 4
3.3.1 Effect of sulfates on decomposition intermediates 5
6
Figure 3: The effect of K2SO4 and oxygen on the concentrations of two cinnamic acid decomposition products: (a) benzaldehyde 7 and (b) phenylacetaldehyde. 8
GC-MS data shows no new sulfated intermediates after the introduction of the aqueous sulfate ions indicating no 9
new reaction pathways. The reduced rate of degradation of the acid is reflected in the reduced rate of benzaldehyde 10
formation, with 0.05 M K2SO4 resulting in a 50% decrease. However, the point at which benzaldehyde reaches its 11
maximum observed concentration also increases, from ~800 s in the absence of sulfate to between 3500-4500 s in 12
the presence of 0.05 M K2SO4. This suggests that the rate of benzaldehyde decomposition is also reduced allowing 13
the intermediate to persist in the system for longer as the sulfate concentration increases. At a sulfate concentration 14
of 0.5 M and in the absence of oxygen, benzaldehyde production was almost completely inhibited. In contrast, the 15
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
0.0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1.0
1.2
1.4
1.6
Standard
Degassed
0.1 M K2SO4
0.1 M K2SO4 degassed
Co
nce
ntr
ation
(mg
/ml)
Time (Seconds)
a. Cinnamic acid degradation
Na2SO4
K2SO4
CA Degas
Alcohol
Alcohol Degas
1st o
rde
r ra
te (
10
-3 s
-1)
Salt concentration /Molar
Deoxygenated
b. 1st order rates
Alcohol
Alcohol degassed
CA degas
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
0
1
2
3
4
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
Standard reaction
0.05 M K2SO4
0.5 M K2SO4
Co
nce
ntr
ation
/µ
g/m
l
Time /Seconds
a. Benzaldehyde
Standard
Degassed
0.1M K2SO4 degas
0.5M K2SO4
Co
nce
ntr
ation
/µ
g/m
l
Time /Seconds
b. Phenylacetaldehyde
Page 10 of 21
concentration of phenylacetaldehyde observed in solution was not markedly different in the presence of sulfate, 1
both in the presence and absence of oxygen, Figure 3(b). 2
3.4 The effect of chloride poisoning 3
3.4.1 Kinetic effects of potassium and sodium chloride 4
5 Figure 4: (a) The effect of KCl and NaCl on the rate of photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic acid at room temperature. 6
(b)Inset: rate of reaction in the absence of oxygen at different potassium chloride concentrations. (c) The effect of chloride and 7 oxygen on the extent of complete photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic acid to carbon dioxide. 8
The introduction of low concentrations of potassium chloride to the aqueous solution of cinnamic acid results in a 9
decrease in the rate of cinnamic acid photocatalytic degradation, Figure 4. However, in contrast to the case of the 10
sulfate ions, increasing the chloride concentration above 0.02 mol dm-3 results in an acceleration of cinnamic acid 11
removal, the rate constant increasing from 1.5×10-3 s-1 in the absence of the chloride ion, to 2.0×10-3 s-1 in the 12
presence of 0.1 M KCl and 2.4×10-3 s-1, in the presence of 0.5 M KCl. NaCl demonstrated a similar promotion, 13
although with noticeably less impact, Figure 4(a) and Figure S3. We have not investigated this aspect further, alkali 14
metal ions are known to affect catalysts, often attributed to their influence on the availability of oxygen. In the case 15
of the SCR process over modified TiO2 for example, the ions act as poisons with potassium having a greater impact 16
than sodium.18,19 In contrast, alkali metals accelerate the oxidation of soot particles with sodium having the greater 17
influence. Clearly, this is an area which needs further exploration. 18
Removal of oxygen from a solution with 0.1 M KCl present using flowing 1 bar N2 gas resulted in rate inhibition 19
behaviour similar to that seen under standard conditions in the absence of the salt. Control experiments in the 20
absence of irradiation demonstrated no reaction between cinnamic acid and the chloride ion over the photocatalyst 21
indicating that the chloride must become involved in the photocatalytic degradation reaction only after the 22
absorption of light. However, despite the increased rate of cinnamic acid removal in the presence of chloride the 23
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.51.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
1.9
2.0
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
0
20
40
60
80
100
0.00 0.04 0.08 0.12
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
KCl rate in air
NaCl rate in air
First ord
er
rate
consta
nt / 10
-3 s
-1
KCl concentration (mol dm-3)
(a)
Time (x10-3 s-1)
mP25
mP25 (deoxy)
0.1M KCl
CO
2 (
%)
(c)
(mol dm-3)
(10
-3 s
-1)
(b) KCl in N2(g)
Page 11 of 21
rate of carbon dioxide production is decreased, almost to the extent observed in the absence of oxygen, Figure 4(c). 1
This suggests that the chloride ions are directing the photodegradation of the cinnamic acid down a different 2
pathway that leads to stable side products rather than total oxidation. 3
3.4.2 Effect of KCl and NaCl on intermediates in the photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic acid. 4
An inverse relationship between the chloride concentration and the maximum concentration reached by 5
benzaldehyde is evident from the data in Figure 5(b). In contrast, the formation of phenylacetaldehyde (3) is not 6
significantly impacted by either potassium or sodium chloride where oxygen is present occurring at concentrations 7
of < 0.4 µg ml-1. Where oxygen is absent however, 3 was detected at approximately 6 µg ml-1 in both 0.1M NaCl and 8
KCl, three times higher than under similar conditions in the absence of the chloride. Four new intermediates, 9
acetophenone (4), 2-chloroacetophenone (5), 1-(2-chlorophenyl)ethenone (6), and 1,2-dibenzoylethane (7), were 10
also detected via GC-MS where chloride was present, Figure 5. In a separate experiment, a reference sample of 2-11
chloroacetophenone (5) exposed to the light source in the absence of the photocatalyst generated (6) and (7) but 12
the reverse reactions did not happen even in the presence of the catalyst. As far as we are aware this transformation 13
has not been reported in the literature previously. 14
We also examined the photocatalytic oxidation of (4) in the presence of 0.5 M KCl. No chlorinated products were 15
observed suggesting chlorine could not be added to the ring after acetephenone has formed and complete 16
mineralisation is the preferred route. These pathways are illustrated in Figure 5. The rates of formation of the 2-17
chloroacetephenone and acetophenone intermediates are very rapid and the highest measured concentrations 18
much higher than those of the benzaldehyde in the absence of the chloride ions. This perhaps reflects a slower rate 19
of decomposition but more in-depth studies of the kinetics of these systems is clearly needed. The formation of all 20
four intermediates was inhibited by the absence of oxygen, but their decomposition rates were unaffected by 21
increasing chloride concentration. 22
23
Page 12 of 21
1
Scheme 1: The intermediates and pathways observed from the presence of up to 0.5 M KCl during the photocatalytic oxidation 2 of cinnamic acid in the presence pf oxygen. 3
4
Figure 5: Effect of chloride on the photodecomposition products (a) New intermediates detected during the photocatalytic 5 degradation of cinnamic acid in chlorinated conditions: acetophenone, 4 ; 2-chloroacetophenone 5; 1-(2-6
Chlorophenyl)ethenone, 6; 1,2-dibenzoylethane 7. (a) Intermediate concentrations in the presence of 0.5 M KCl, the 7 concentration of benzaldehyde under standard conditions is included for comparison; (b) The effect of KCl concentration on the 8
concentration profile of benzaldehyde; (c) The effect of KCl concentration on the concentration profile of 2-9 chloroacetephenone. 10
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 120000
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 120000
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Co
nce
ntr
atio
n (
µg
/ml)
Time (Seconds)
Benzaldehyde (no Cl-)
Benzaldehyde 0.5M KCl
Phenylacetaldehyde 0.5M KCl
Acetophenone 0.5M KCl
2-Chloroacetophenone 0.5M KCl
(a) Intermediate concentrations
in the presence of 0.5 M KCl(b) Effect of KCl on the concentration of
benzaldehyde
No KCl
Degassed
0.05M KCl
0.1M KCl
0.5M KCl
Be
nza
lde
hyd
e c
on
ce
ntr
atio
n (mg
/ml)
Time (s)
(c) Effect of KCl on the concentration of
2-chloroacetophenone
2-C
hlo
roa
ce
top
he
no
ne
co
nce
ntr
atio
n (
µg
/ml)
Time (Seconds)
0.05M KCl
0.1M KCl
0.5M KCl
0.1M KCl & N2(g)
Page 13 of 21
3.5 Catalyst characterisation 1
2
Figure 6: C(1s), O(1s), S(2p) and Cl(2p) regions of selected XP spectra of the catalysts comparing surface species before and after 3 photocatalytic reaction in the presence of cinnamic acid and also after reaction in the absence of oxygen (degassed); (a) Fresh 4
TiO2; (b) After photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic acid under standard conditions;(c) After reaction in the absence of 5 oxygen; (d) After photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic alcohol under standard conditions; (e) After reaction of the alcohol 6
in the absence of oxygen; (f) After photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic acid in the presence of 0.1 M potassium sulfate. (g) 7 After photocatalytic decomposition of cinnamic acid in the presence of 0.5 M KCl 8
XP spectra of the clean and spent catalysts are compared in Figure 6. The C(1s) region shows that in addition to 9
the usual CHx deposition, characterised by a peak at c.a. 284.8 eV, two strong components are present at 286.3 eV 10
and 288.5 eV. These can be tentatively assigned to C-O and C=O respectively. These three peaks are only weakly 11
affected by the conditions of the photocatalytic degradation reaction, with neither the presence nor absence of 12
oxygen or the presence of the sulfate ions having significant effects. A pi-pi* band indicating some extended 13
aromatization at the surface is evident at 291.6 eV after cinnamic acid degradation in the presence of oxygen and 14
also in the reaction of cinnamyl alcohol in the oxygen free conditions. The adsorption of the sulfate together with 15
the potassium counter ion is evident from the 𝐾 (2𝑝3 2⁄ ) peak in the C(1s) region at 293.1 eV, the peak at 168.6 in 16
the S(2p) region and the associated O(1s) peak at 532.0 eV but these do not affect the other peaks in the C(1s) 17
Page 14 of 21
region. Similarly, the presence of potassium chloride in solution is evident from the XP spectra with the 𝐶𝑙 (2𝑝3 2⁄ ) at 1
~ 198 eV, typical of chlorides adsorbed at oxide surfaces.20 2
3
Figure 7: Fourier transform-ATR spectra of the catalysts comparing surface species before and after photocatalytic reaction in 4 the presence of cinnamic acid (CA), cinnamic alcohol (CAL) and after reaction in the absence of oxygen (degassed, N2) and in the 5
presence of halide and sulfate ions: 6 A. (a) Fresh TiO2; (b) Control sample of catalyst after exposure to light in pure water; (c) Spent catalyst after reaction in the 7 presence of cinnamic acid; (d) After reaction with cinnamic acid in the absence of oxygen; (e) Catalyst after photocatalytic 8
reaction of cinnamic alcohol; (f) After reaction with cinnamic alcohol in the absence of oxygen. 9 B. (g) Spent catalyst (as in (c) for comparison); (h) After reaction with cinnamic acid in the presence of 0.1 M K2SO4; (i) After 10
reaction with cinnamic acid in the presence of 0.1 M K2SO4 and in the absence of oxygen. (j) After reaction with cinnamic acid in 11 the presence of 0.5 M KCl; (k) After reaction with cinnamic acid in the presence of 0.5 M KCl and in the absence of oxygen. 12
ATR spectra of the clean TiO2 catalyst, Figure 7, show broad vibrations at ~ 3300 and 1630 cm-1 attributable to 13
adsorbed water. In addition, the no-substrate control shows a minor peak at ~ 3700 cm-1 due to surface hydroxyls 14
generated by exposure of the surface to UV light. After reaction in the presence of the cinnamic acid, Figure 7(c), 15
peaks at 2851, 2970 and 2921 cm-1, assigned to the CH3 symmetric and antisymmetric stretching and the CH2 16
antisymmetric stretching modes respectively indicate the presence of hydrocarbons at the catalyst surface.21 There 17
is no evidence for carbonyls between ~1650 - 1850 cm-1, and so the series of peaks lying between 1300 and 1580 18
cm-1 can also be assigned to vibrations of aromatic C=C, CH3 and CH2 groups from a range of small chain 19
hydrocarbons such as those identified by Dang et al.22 in the mineralisation of phenol. This correlates with the XPS 20
evidence for aromatic groups at the surface although there is no evidence for the aromatic C-H stretching band 21
expected ~ 3070 cm-1. Similarly, the features at 1163, 1131 and 1110 cm-1 can be assigned to C-C stretches of these 22
10 A. Piscopo, D. Robert and J. V. Weber, Appl. Catal. B Environ., 2001, 35, 117–124. 22
11 S.-Y. Yang, Y.-X. Chen, L.-P. Lou and X.-N. Wu, J. Environ. Sci., 2005, 17, 761–765. 23 12 R. Yuan, S. N. Ramjaun, Z. Wang and J. Liu, Chem. Eng. J., 2012, 192, 171–178. 24
13 B. Ohtani, O. O. Prieto-Mahaney, D. Li and R. Abe, J. Photochem. Photobiol. Chem., 2010, 216, 179–182. 25
14 A. Sergejevs, C. T. Clarke, D. W. E. Allsopp, J. Marugan, A. Jaroenworaluck, W. Singhapong, P. Manpetch, R. 26
Timmers, C. Casado and C. R. Bowen, Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2017, 16, 1690–1699. 27
15 C. Casado, R. Timmers, A. Sergejevs, C. T. Clarke, D. W. E. Allsopp, C. R. Bowen, R. van Grieken and J. Marugán, 28
Chem. Eng. J., 2017, 327, 1043–1055. 29
16 N. Fairley, CasaXPS Manual: 2.3.15 Spectroscopy, Casa Software Ltd, 2009. 30
17 M. Bowker, C. Morton, J. Kennedy, H. Bahruji, J. Greves, W. Jones, P. R. Davies, C. Brookes, P. P. Wells and N. 31
Dimitratos, J. Catal., 2014, 310, 10–15. 32 18 R. Guo, Q. Wang, W. Pan, W. Zhen, Q. Chen, H. Ding, N. Yang and C. Lu, Appl. Surf. Sci., 2014, 317, 111–116. 33
19 L. Chen, J. Li and M. Ge, Chem. Eng. J., 2011, 170, 531–537. 34
20 H. Altass, A. F. Carley, P. R. Davies and R. J. Davies, Surf. Sci., 2016, 650, 177–186. 35
21 Z. Topalian, B. I. Stefanov, C. G. Granqvist and L. Österlund, J. Catal., 2013, 307, 265–274. 36
22 T. T. T. Dang, S. T. T. Le, D. Channei, W. Khanitchaidecha and A. Nakaruk, Res. Chem. Intermed., 2016, 42, 5961–37
5974. 38
23 M. Anbar, D. Meyerstein and P. Neta, J. Phys. Chem., 1966, 70, 2660–2662. 39
24 H. Maeda, H. Nakagawa and K. Mizuno, J. Photochem. Photobiol. Chem., 2007, 189, 94–99. 40
25 H. Sugimoto, S. Matsumoto and D. T. Sawyer, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1987, 109, 8081–8082. 41
26 P. M. P. Santos and A. J. S. C. Vieira, J. Phys. Org. Chem., 2013, 26, 432–439. 42 27 I. B. Niklasson, T. Delaine, M. N. Islam, R. Karlsson, K. Luthman and A.-T. Karlberg, Contact Dermatitis, 2013, 68, 43
129–138. 44
28 J. C. S. Costa, P. Corio and L. M. Rossi, Nanoscale, 2015, 7, 8536–8543. 45
29 G. Jayson, B. Parsons and A. Swallow, J. Chem. Soc.-Faraday Trans. I, 1973, 1597–1607. 46
30 J. E. Grebel, J. J. Pignatello and W. A. Mitch, Environ. Sci. Technol., 2010, 44, 6822–6828. 47
Page 21 of 21
31 U. Klaning and T. Wolff, Berichte Bunsen-Ges.-Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 1985, 89, 243–245. 1
32 H. W. Jacobi, F. Wicktor, H. Herrmann and R. Zellner, Int. J. Chem. Kinet., 1999, 31, 169–181. 2
33 F. Wicktor, A. Donati, H. Herrmann and R. Zellner, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2003, 5, 2562–2572. 3
34 G. V. Buxton, M. Bydder, G. A. Salmon and J. E. Williams, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2000, 2, 237–245. 4 35 L. Nelson, O. Rattigan, R. Neavyn, H. Sidebottom, J. Treacy and O. Nielsen, Int. J. Chem. Kinet., 1990, 22, 1111–5
1126. 6
36 PubChem, 2-Chloroacetophenone, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/10757, (accessed 2 March 7
2020). 8
37 PubChem, 1-(2-Chlorophenyl)ethanol, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/26082, (accessed 2 March 9